Australia is bigger than Greenland but some people say that Greenland is the biggest island as Australia is a continent..Is it not also an island?...surrounded by water?
2006-12-27 02:08:34 · 15 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Geography
If continents could be considered to be islands then Africa would take the crown (After the Suez Canal was built). Also, it is an argument that because Australia is in the continent of Oceania which includes countries like New Zealand and Tuvalu, it is an island nation making it the worlds' largest island. So it can arguably be concluded that Australia is the worlds' biggest island-nation and Greenland is the largest island.
2006-12-27 05:47:37 · answer #1 · answered by lolo g 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It all depends on definitions...
America (no, not just USA) is also surrounded by water. Eurasia is. The South Pole is. Are these islands? Why or why not?
Is Australia a continent? Why or why not? If Greenland "belongs" to Europe (geologically) then doesn't Australia belong to a bigger something?
Does the panama canal divide America in north and south, creating two islands? Do the two continents in this area form one island?
No clear answer, because there isn't any!
2006-12-27 05:25:37 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It depends what you mean by island. Australia generally isn't considered an island because its a continent. Greenland is generally referred to as the biggest. Dictionary.com says an island is a tract of land completely surrounded by water, and not large enough to be called a continent. This would automatically get rid of Australia according to this definition. However, Wikipedia.org says an island is any piece of land that is completely surrounded by water.This would include the Europe-Asia-Africa island. So it's really up to you; what is an island?
2006-12-27 03:23:11 · answer #3 · answered by bohdan 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's Greenland. Australia is considered as a continent.
2006-12-27 02:27:05 · answer #4 · answered by W A S I F 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Jonus Poullit, the famous explorer, is known for being the first person to discover the massive Island we call Australia. Australia is still the worlds largests island, but what was the biggest island on Earth before Jonus Poullit discovered Australia.
2006-12-27 02:20:06 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Australia
2006-12-27 08:17:37 · answer #6 · answered by TITANS FAN 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Australia, (7,617.930 sq km) is widely considered part of a continental landmass, not officially an island. But without doubt it is the LARGEST ISLAND on the planet, and ironically, when combined with Oceania, the smallest continent on Earth! Australia is followed by Greenland (2,175,600 sq km).
2006-12-27 09:42:32 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, but by the same argument Africa is an island (if you count the Suez canal) and if you don't then Africa-Asia-Europe is an island.
Similarly North and South America (or both together depending on the Panama canal) are islands.
You have to have arbitrary rules. If Australia were a continent, it wouldn't be an island.
BUT Australia isn't a continent. The continent is Australasia - so Australia can count as the largest island if you like
2006-12-27 02:11:49 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
Greenland is the biggest island.
2006-12-27 04:19:04 · answer #9 · answered by black_cat 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Greenland is the largest island on the earth. It's large area is covered with snow.
2006-12-27 03:21:10 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋